In the show In The Red and
Brown Water, the main character was Oya who was trying to find her place in the
projects. She was in love with another important character Shango who was
trouble and never fully committed to her before he then left and joined the
military. Ogun Size was in love with Oya and when Shango left, he swept her off
her feet. Elegba was a trouble maker and was a neighbor of Oya. Oya wants
to have a baby desperately. After her Aunt Elegua made her feel a certain
way, she tried even harder with Ogun. Oya was going crazy sitting around
watching all of her friends get pregnant and have children. Shango came back into
the picture and started having an affair with Oya, but soon after, Shango got
Shun pregnant and that sent Oya off the edge. She cut her ear off and i think
died at the end.
I think the most important part in the play was when Elegba had his son. It is important to
me because he is younger than Oya and he has been around Oya for most of his
life. Oya wants to have a baby so when Elegba doesnt have anywhere to go, she
takes him in so she can have a baby too in a way. She doesnt ever have a baby
even though she desires it greatly. I’m sure it made her feel bad that she couldn’t
have a baby even more. I felt bad for Ogun because he was trying really hard to
do everything he could to provide for Oya, but she was just wanted to sulk in her own misery. That is, until she
divorced him and set him free.
The acting and
singing was extremely good, but the most compelling aspect to the performance
would hands down have to be the mood. When you can feel the emotions that are
trying to be portrayed while you sit in the audience, it adds immensely. During
the dancing scenes, especially the one in church, I felt myself smiling and
moving with the music. I don't think i have anything to critic however, I felt
like towards the end, the play drug on for a tad bit too long. It felt like it
got old after a while. The ending was weird too. She cut her ear off because he
always used to "caress it". It was interesting but weird at the same
time.
This was not my
first time seeing a live performance. I did like this one and I am a big fan of
plays and musicals live or not. The one main difference that i noticed, and I'm
sure it was just because of the way it was written, but the characters spoke the
things that should have been in parenthesis. It added comedy and I liked
it. The music in this one was more alive it seemed than others that I have encountered in the past.